Workers' rights

From 9 August additional leave for cancer patients

Up to 24 months of unpaid absence in addition to the protections already provided. Abstention also usable for disabling or chronic illnesses

by Giuseppe Bulgarini d'Elci and Matteo Prioschi

9 August 2025

3' min read

Key points

Employees.
Self-employed
Smart working and permits

3' min read

In force since 9 August the law 106/2025 that introduced, in favour of workers suffering fromdisabling or chronic oncological diseases, new provisions for the preservation of thejob and the use of permissions for visits, examinations and medical treatment.

Employees

The new measures, which apply to dependent workers in the private and public sectors, provide that, where the illness results in a degree of disability equal to or greater than 74%, the employee is entitled to an overtime leave of up to 24 months. The condition must be certified by the general practitioner or specialist doctor, working in an accredited public or private health facility, who is treating the employee.

The leave may be taken continuously or in instalments and is incompatible with the performance of any other work activity. During the period of abstention from work, seniority does not accrue and the employee does not receive pay. Moreover, this period does not count for social security purposes, but the employee may redeem it throughvoluntary contribution.

The new leave does not constitute an obstacle to the enjoyment of other economic or legal benefits of which the employee is already a beneficiary, and its enjoyment presupposes that the other periods of absence (paid or unpaid) to which the employee is entitled for any reason whatsoever (e.g. leave for serious family reasons provided for by the collective agreement or for illness and accident, including unpaid leave) have elapsed in full. In this respect, the 24-month leave constitutes a kind ofprotection of last resort, which can be availed of after exhausting other legal and collective agreement measures. It isa major novelty, whereby the employee, who is currently exhausting his comportment period, also has the 24 months of extraordinary leave available from 9 August.

The self-employed

A similar mechanism is envisaged for self-employed workers who suffer from the same conditions as sickness, the right to suspend the activity rendered on a continuous basis being established for a maximum of 300 days per calendar year (compared to the 150 provided for other sicknesses), during which no consideration accrues. However, this is without prejudice, through the reference to Article 14(1) of Law 81/2017, to the termination of the relationship due to the principal's interest ceasing to exist.

Smart working and permits

The new measures include priority access to smart working once the period of extraordinary leave has expired. This is a further extension of the protection mechanisms already provided for in other legislation (e.g. for employees with severe disabilities or caregivers). In this case, too, the task must be compatible with agile working.

Law 106/2025 also moves on the side of time off for visits, examinations and medical treatment, providing for an additional 10 hours per year for the benefit of employees who are eligible for extraordinary leave (for oncological, however, the case of an illness 'in an active phase or early follow-up' is added).

For the 10 hours there is an indemnity corresponding to the economic treatment of sick leave with notional social security coverage. In the private sector, it is the employers who advance the allowance, recovering it by means of a contribution adjustment.

The additional hours, which also apply to workers with a child suffering from the same illnesses that entitle them to the 24 months of leave, are provided in addition to the other existing protections (such as, for example, the permits under Law 104/1992). The new leave measures will apply as of 1 January 2026.